Max Osceola Sr., 63, Seminole Deacon, Dies

Max Osceola Sr. was born in the Everglades and lived his first 10 years under his Seminole name Chobee.

But his handiwork with his fists led to a new name, Max, in honor of 1930s heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer.

Today, members of the Seminole Indian community will pay their final respects to Mr. Osceola, 63, who died on Saturday in an automobile accident a few blocks from his home on the Seminole Reservation near Hollywood. Mr. Osceola's death left his family stunned.

"He did the two things he loved that day. He had just played golf that morning and he had checked on his cattle," said son, Max Osceola Jr., a member of the Seminole Tribal Council. "He was almost home."

One of Mr. Osceola's adopted sons, James Billie, serves as chairman of the Seminole Tribe.

Max Osceola Sr. was born in the Everglades near the Tamiami Trail on May 22, 1930. When he was 10 years old he knocked out an opponent in a boxing match, earning him the name "Max," Max Jr. said.

Mr. Osceola and his first wife, Laura, were the first Seminole couple in Florida to marry in a Christian service instead of the traditional Seminole wedding ceremony conducted by a medicine man during the annual Green Corn Dance.

In 1949, the couple was married at the First Seminole Baptist Church, on the Hollywood reservation. The ceremony was front-page news in the Fort Lauderdale Daily News. They divorced after 16 years.

Mr. Osceola married Polly Buck from the Brighton reservation after he and Laura were divorced. He and Polly were later divorced. Mr. Osceola did not remarry.

"He had a big heart," said Max Jr., a biological son of Max and Laura Osceola.

There were no formal adoption procedures. He simply took the children under the Seminole custom of providing for those who needed a home.

"It was the traditional Indian way," Max Jr. said.

Mr. Osceola, who worked in construction and raised cattle, had a large family and was known throughout the 2,100-member tribe, said Twila Perkins, managing editor of the twice-monthly Seminole Tribune newspaper. He was a member of the Bird Clan, an extended family within the tribe.

"He was well liked by everyone," she said.

While two of his sons rose to political positions in the tribe, Mr. Osceola stayed out of the spotlight.

He served as a deacon of First Seminole Baptist Church and taught Sunday School, Max Jr. said. He also was an avid golfer and was the tribe's sole senior member of the Seminole Golf Association.

Mr. Osceola died Saturday as he was returning from checking on the cattle that he raised on the tribe's Big Cypress Reservation. His 1992 Ford pickup truck collided with a Ford Explorer at Sheridan Street and 72nd Avenue.

The driver of the Explorer, Sharon Davis, was taken to Memorial Hospital, where she remained in critical condition Monday. The accident is still under investigation.

Mr. Osceola's survivors include sons Billie of Big Cypress, and Max Jr., Lawrence, Steve and Mitchell Osceola, all of Hollywood; daughters Sharon Osceola and Sandi McClenithan of Hollywood; brothers Bill, Joe, Jimmie and Dan Osceola, all of Hollywood; sisters Annie Jumper and Maggie and Betty Osceola, all of Hollywood; 20 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. today at First Seminole Baptist Church, 4701 Stirling Road. Burial will follow the service at the New Seminole Cemetery on the Hollywood reservation.